The team behind I Am Immortal is happy to back their young stallion in ahead of what shapes as a make-or-break spring.
Swettenham Stud’s General Manager of Operations and Nominations, Sam Matthews, said that while he initially predicted the horse to make more of an impact with early runners, he is nonetheless excited by his late-season emergence.
I Am Immortal had four individual two-year-old winners from only 15 runners last season, including a bumper July in which Timeless Gem, Southern Lass and I Am Velvet broke their respective maidens.
The latter added the VOBIS Ingot at her next start and is rated $26 in Sportsbet’s all-in market for the Group 1 Thousand Guineas.
While I Am Immortal himself was a dual Stakes winner at two, Matthews said all indications from trainers with progeny by the stallion is that his horses are larger, strong types that will improve into their three-year-old seasons.
“It’s validating to see that recent success when you put your money on the line to go and buy these stallions,” Matthews said.
“In this case, seeing I Am Immortal have some success with his late-season two-year-olds is fantastic but it’s probably not exactly what we expected.
“We expected them to be earlier, pre-Christmas two-year-olds but by Christmas he’d only had a couple of runners.
“They’re probably going to be better three-year-olds and I stuffed up a bit by saying that they were only going to be early two-year-olds.
“He’s 16.2hh and he’s 620-odd kilograms, so he’s a big horse and he throws big horses.
“They’re fast racehorses, they’re big and strong but they probably just take a bit more time than we expected.”
WATCH: I Am Velvet, a filly by I Am Immortal, wins the VOBIS Gold Ingot
I Am Immortal’s champion sire I Am Invincible hadn’t produced a two-year-old G1 winner until last season and Matthews said there remains plenty of optimism in the horse given the size of the books he’s served in recent seasons.
After serving 116 mares in his debut season in 2020, I Am Immortal served 96 mares in 2021, 100 mares in 2022 and a career-high 121 mares last spring.
Matthews is confident the performances of the stallion’s progeny on the racetrack over the coming weeks and months will help prompt mare bookings, but he also hinted his team is happy to negotiate with breeders this season to ensure I Am Immortal is again well supported.
“Last year was definitely his busiest season, he covered 120 mares, which was fantastic,” he said.
“This year, he could cover 30 mares or he could cover 150 mares, it really depends on his results on the racetrack.
“That’s where this season is vital, we need to keep the numbers up and we’re happy to look after breeders to ensure that we can keep the numbers up.
“If he has a quiet spring and he only covers 30 or 40 mares, it makes it very difficult for him to come back from that.
“The market is tough and although we’re not a farm that traditionally deals very heavily, we’re happy to look after people with the right mares and get an inexpensive service fee for a horse that looks like he’s doing the job.”
I Am Immortal stands for $13,750 on a Swettenham roster that also includes pin-up Toronado ($88,000), Rubick ($27,500) and newcomer Lofty Strike ($22,000).